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> They don't have sheer numbers unless they go full mobilization. They already put almost entire Russian ground force, which is 280k, into battle

That is sheer numbers. The EU has 1 million active military personnel on paper. Of that, less than 30k are "land troops prepared for deployed and sustained operations" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Security_and_Defence_Po...

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This isn't enough to win. Ukrainian Ground Forces were 200k at the beginning of this war, for comparison. And Ukraine have been conducting mobilization since the war started, so it's larger by a lot now and will grow with each day of war.

200k reservists cannot join Ukrainian army because of lack of equipment and money. I have no truck, for example, so I cannot move a few tonnes of communication equipment rapidly, so my combat-readiness is low.

> This isn't enough to win.

If only I was discussing that, right?

> And Ukraine have been conducting mobilization since the war started

Yes, but the original question was, "Why is Europe increasing defense spending". The sum total of Europe's deployed forces is smaller than Ukraine's was before this war.

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